Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Saturday 1 December 2012

A Wintry Walk Round Baddesley Clinton

I went into Solihull on Thursday to do some Christmas shopping and stopped off at Baddesley Clinton for a walk on the way home.


Baddesley Clinton was the home of the Ferrers family for 500 years. Most of the house that can be seen today was built by Henry Ferrers (a lawyer, diarist and antiquarian) in the late 1500's. The Ferrers followed the Catholic faith and there are several priest holes within the house where priests could remain in secret hiding places.

Signs of Christmas are appearing around the House





The National Trust also decorate the inside of the house for Christmas as I discovered last year. Hoping to pay another visit and see the decorations soon with a friend. I'm not sure about photographs though as NT don't allow flash and the house is very dark inside and last year's efforts were rather poor. I am, however, toying with the idea of using a monopod! - we shall see!

Although the Woodland Walk was closed (too muddy apparently) the Lakeland Walk was open.

One of the Fish Pools or Stew Ponds - used by medieval households to provide fresh fish.


This lovely stone seat commemorates a Mrs. Mary Fitter who was a local head teacher.



The Great Pool which may once have been a mill pool







In the Courtyard near the Shop and Restaurant



There were some nice metal garden ornaments for sale



The parkland surrounding the house is full of ancient trees. There is what looks a lovely walk around the Estate which is on my very long list of "Things to Do"!


7 comments:

ShySongbird said...

It looked an enjoyable visit Caroline and of course I know wha a nice place it is. I have only ever been in the Summer so it was nice to see it from another perspective. Lovely photos again. The stone seat is beautiful. I had to laugh at the scarecrow it looked exhausted, it must have had a very busy season :-)

I remember we put that walk on our to do list also but have never done it yet. Something to look forward to next year perhaps, it's about time we got some value out of our annual NT subscription!

Tricia Ryder said...

Lovely winter pictures Caroline. There's a great advantage in leafless trees in that you can really see the wonderful shapes and differences between tree varieties.

Hope you get to see the house decorations. (High ISO and large aperture?)...

Ragged Robin said...

ShySongbird Hi Jan Many thanks. Its worth going in September - the dahlia bed is a picture. Hope you get to visit next year and manage to do the walk :)

I keep telling husband we don't get value out of our NT subscription! I checked recently how much it had cost and its very expensive! I don't think Brian's been to one NT place this year and there are so many lovely local ones that we have never visited!

Tricia - Many thanks. I've tried high ISO (camera only goes up to 1600 with very grainy results) and low aperture. TBH it doesn't seem to perform well in low light and BC is very dark inside. Thanks for the suggestion though :)

The Quacks of Life said...

some nice pics RR. I think you are going to have to use your membership more.... new camera btw for indoor shots? :)

Rohrerbot said...

Very nice walk:) The part about this holiday season I don't like is the crazy stuff people do. I am not into shopping at all, the long drives to see family, or about the papers that need grading:)

So it's nice to get the chance to go for a walk when you can. Love the scarecrow sleeping....that's how I felt yesterday:) Thanks for the walk and lovely narrative. Good luck with the dark rooms.....still a challenge for me:)

Anonymous said...

another lovely excursion, thank you for taking me with you Caroline. It is a lovely place to walk.

Ragged Robin said...

Pete - Many thanks. Would you recommend a Panasonic G1 like yours for indoor shots??? Yes, would love the Fuji but beyond budget :( Don't somehow think I will be getting another camera this bday though!

Rohrerbot - Know what you mean Chris about this time of year. I try and do most present shopping online but can't do all. Its my bday this month too and I must admit I wish it was any other month as I always seem too busy with Cmas stuff to enjoy!

I do try and stop off places when I'm out and about to recharge the batteries and forget about problems!

Hope you feel less tired today. I think the only way to get any decent photos of the dark rooms would be to use a tripod but I would find that embarrassing!! and not sure National Trust would be overhappy!

Thanks for your lovely comment :) Have a good week.

Toffeeapple - Many thanks for your lovely comment - glad you enjoyed the walk :)